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DETROIT (WWJ) - A man was shot and killed Friday night after an apparent dispute over the price of condoms at a Detroit gas station.

WWJ’s Beth Fisher spoke to an employee at the BP gas station on Fenkell and Meyers, where the shooting took place on the city’s westside overnight. The employee said the argument was apparently over the price of a box of condoms.

He said the customer bought a box of condoms, but made a comment that he was overcharged and could have bought them somewhere else for a cheaper price. After being told he couldn’t get a refund, the customer allegedly began tossing items off the shelves. That’s when, according to the employee, the overnight clerk came out with a gun and fired a warning shot, which struck the customer in the shoulder.

Police say the customer was taken to a local hospital where he later died from his injuries.

Ron Scott, with the Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality, said they are working on conflict resolution between gas station owners and Detroiters, something they will be discussing at a meeting on Sunday.

“We can’t have this kind of attitude and this kind of disrespect for life. Whether it happens to people who work in the gas station or definitely if it happens to people in the community. From what I’m understanding, the price of a condom should not be somebody’s life,” said Scott.

Police say the store clerk, whose name has not been released, is in custody. An investigation is ongoing.

The shooting comes during an increase of violent crime in Detroit.

In another recent incident at a gas station, an 86-year-old World War II veteran was assaulted and his car was stolen in broad daylight. After several people passed by him as he crawled, unable to walk because his leg was broken in the attack, the man tried to pay a stranger to drive him home. The good Samaritan man drove him for free, and called an ambulance. Days later, a 21-year-old suspect was arrested. Charges are pending.

Detroit Councilman Kwame Kenyatta is drafting an ordinance that would require gas station owners to hire security guards to protect the public.

“And as we watch this man was beaten on camera and crawled into the station, never once did I see the proprietor, as well as the people who were going to that gas station, help that individual. We are saying secure your facility, safeguard us as a community,” said Kenyatta.

Scott said part of the problem is the general relationship between customers in the communities and gas station owners and employees.

“The problem basically is that you have people who work in the stations who do not have a reasonable relationship with the community, where the respect for the dollars that they spend is accorded to them in the terms of human respect. On the other hand, you do have people in the neighborhood who come in, or people who might engage in negative activity, where the lives of the owners are threatened,” said Scott.

What it comes down to, said Scott, is respect.

“I’ve been in similar situations in some of these stores where I’ve been disrespected. And now we’re talking about young, specifically African-American men. One of the major things in the community that you want is respect… and I think people here don’t have skills in terms of de-escalation of violence,” said Scott.

Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness;Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyesAnd clever in their own sight! Isaiah 5:20-21 NASB

The city of Detroit does give away free condoms, at least they used to through the Health Department. There's a PP downtown and most of the high schools also give them away. None of them are open in the middle of the night or on weekends, though.

This is weird and all, but I find the more troubling problem in Detroit right now is that 4 children have been shot in the past month.

The city of Detroit does give away free condoms, at least they used to through the Health Department. There's a PP downtown and most of the high schools also give them away. None of them are open in the middle of the night or on weekends, though.

This is weird and all, but I find the more troubling problem in Detroit right now is that 4 children have been shot in the past month.

Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make man a more clever devil.C. S. LewisDo not ever say that the desire to "do good" by force is a good motive. Neither power-lust nor stupidity are good motives. (Are you listening Barry)?:mad:Ayn Rand

Detroit Councilman Kwame Kenyatta is drafting an ordinance that would require gas station owners to hire security guards to protect the public.

“And as we watch this man was beaten on camera and crawled into the station, never once did I see the proprietor, as well as the people who were going to that gas station, help that individual. We are saying secure your facility, safeguard us as a community,” said Kenyatta.

Scott said part of the problem is the general relationship between customers in the communities and gas station owners and employees.

“The problem basically is that you have people who work in the stations who do not have a reasonable relationship with the community, where the respect for the dollars that they spend is accorded to them in the terms of human respect. On the other hand, you do have people in the neighborhood who come in, or people who might engage in negative activity, where the lives of the owners are threatened,” said Scott.

What it comes down to, said Scott, is respect.

Oh forgodsake, we have two elected officials trying to excuse criminal behavior by blaming the victims for not adequately protecting themselves. In prison logic and lingo no less.

While you were hanging yourself , on someone else's words
Dying to believe in what you heard
I was staring straight into the shining sun

The city of Detroit does give away free condoms, at least they used to through the Health Department. There's a PP downtown and most of the high schools also give them away. None of them are open in the middle of the night or on weekends, though.

This is weird and all, but I find the more troubling problem in Detroit right now is that 4 children have been shot in the past month.

Give every nonfelon woman in Detroit a Ruger LC9 and a box of bullets. Two birds with one stone.

While you were hanging yourself , on someone else's words
Dying to believe in what you heard
I was staring straight into the shining sun

Detroit Councilman Kwame Kenyatta is drafting an ordinance that would require gas station owners to hire security guards to protect the public.

“And as we watch this man was beaten on camera and crawled into the station, never once did I see the proprietor, as well as the people who were going to that gas station, help that individual. We are saying secure your facility, safeguard us as a community,” said Kenyatta.

Scott said part of the problem is the general relationship between customers in the communities and gas station owners and employees.

“The problem basically is that you have people who work in the stations who do not have a reasonable relationship with the community, where the respect for the dollars that they spend is accorded to them in the terms of human respect. On the other hand, you do have people in the neighborhood who come in, or people who might engage in negative activity, where the lives of the owners are threatened,” said Scott.

What it comes down to, said Scott, is respect.

Oh forgodsake, we have two elected officials trying to excuse criminal behavior by blaming the victims for not adequately protecting themselves. In prison logic and lingo no less.

There is a lot of hostility between the owners and employees of stores and the citizens of Detroit. It's complicated and race plays a factor-most of the store owners and employees are of middle eastern descent and most of their customers are african americans. One of the main issues is that the store/gas station operators charge more for merchandise (like 7-11 does) in a city in which the population does not have the mobility to price-shop.

I'm not justifying anything, just trying to show the backround to it all. A while back, maybe 10 years or so, an african store clerk shot and killed a customer in a dispute. The store was owned by african immigrants, and the people from the neighborhood started a protest. They demanded that the store owners give the business to the community as damages for the loss of the man who was killed, which of course the owners refused to do. The people from the neighborhood effectively boycotted the business and shut it down. The building remains vacant, even though it's in a good location.

On the other side, the mostly arab people who own and operate most of the neighborhood stores and gas stations have lost sons and fathers to armed robbers, most of whom are african americans. If you ever see them take money out at the end of a shift, it's quite a complicated matter that involves 2-3 well-armed men. Most of the storekeepers keep semi-automatics behind the bullet-proof glass for good reason.

There is a lot of hostility between the owners and employees of stores and the citizens of Detroit. It's complicated and race plays a factor-most of the store owners and employees are of middle eastern descent and most of their customers are african americans. One of the main issues is that the store/gas station operators charge more for merchandise (like 7-11 does) in a city in which the population does not have the mobility to price-shop.
.

Charging more for their services and merchandise couldn't have anything to do with covering the cost of all of that bullet-proof plexiglass, and armed guards required to make a simple bank deposit would it??

Seems to me that the "community" is to blame for their own problems, and the lack of services therein. Were they civilized, such measures would be unnecessary, costs would lower, and more businesses would be attracted to the area.

It's too bad the community doesn't have the "mobility" to price-shop, but they always seem to have the mobility to purchase firearms, drugs, knives, and other implements of destruction......

My sympathy meter is banging hard on "zero" for Detroit........and yes, I've lived in the area, and worked downtown......IMO the bulldozer solution mentioned above is the most logical, and bury the "community" with the debris......

I'll offer the same challenge here that I've proffered elsewhere many times, and is, to this day, yet unanswered......Name ONE successful, economically thriving government run entirely by Africans, or African-Americans........

There is a lot of hostility between the owners and employees of stores and the citizens of Detroit. .

For some reason I'm thinking that if NOI and other black activists can beg or borrow the money to build a mosque or a "community center" then they shouldn't have any trouble pulling together a group to open up black owned corner stores and liquor stores. So why haven't they? Could it be because black people won't put up with the level of abuse, theft, and threat that the Arabs do?

My town isn't black and yet all the corner stores are owned by Arabs of some sort. It pisses me off. I don't know why it's like that. Maybe brightwhite people won't work the hours. Maybe brightwhite people won't put their lives on the line for a drawer with $100 in it. The Cubans have a market that closes at 7pm. The Vietnamese own several grocery stores uptown which close at 7 pm. Brightwhite people own produce stands, barber shops, and dog groomers, bars, and restaurants.

While you were hanging yourself , on someone else's words
Dying to believe in what you heard
I was staring straight into the shining sun

"Bright" white people live and establish their businesses in the suburbs, send their children to good schools, shop at Albertsons, Macy's, Bloomingdales, and even (gasp) Walmart.......where there is no need to make their purchases through a drawer in two inches of Lexan..........such intelligent humans only venture into the inner-city cesspools if they happen to have their office there, and for no longer than necessary.......